Astros' Altuve, Springer win Silver Slugger Awards

The two All-Stars are the first pair of Astros teammates to win Silver Sluggers in the same season since 1999 when Jeff Bagwell and Mike Hampton took home the award.

Author:
KHOU.com Staff , KHOU

Published:
5:46 PM CST November 9, 2017

Updated:
5:46 PM CST November 9, 2017

Both the Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve and George Springer have won American League Silver Slugger Awards, Major League Baseball announced Thursday.

The two All-Stars are the first pair of Astros teammates to win Silver Sluggers in the same season since 1999 when Jeff Bagwell and Mike Hampton took home the award.

The Silver Slugger Award is Altuve’s fourth and Springer’s first. It is given to the top offensive players at each position in the American and National Leagues.

Springer, the World Series MVP, hit .283 this season with 112 runs scored, 29 doubles, 34 home runs – a career-high -- and posted an .889 OPS in 140 games. He led the team in home runs and ranked tied for 10th in the AL. The outfielder’s home runs set a franchise record and tied for the seventh-most homers recorded by a leadoff hitter in MLB history.

Altuve won his third-career and second-consecutive batting title this season and helped lead Houston to its first World Series title in franchise history. For the regular season, the second baseman posted a .346 batting average and led the AL in hits with 204, becoming the first player in MLB history to be the outright leader in hits in his league in four consecutive seasons.

Altuve has already taken home several awards this season, most recently the Players Choice Awards’ MLB Player of the Year and AL Most Outstanding Player, which he won Wednesday. He was also named the 2017 Sporting News Player of the Year and took home the AL Hank Aaron Award.

Altuve has been named a finalist for the Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s AL Most Valuable Player Award, which will be announced Tuesday.